Just a quick email to let
you know that I haven't forgotten about providing some
feedback. I have been really busy since getting back and
haven't had a chance to get around to this yet.

Briefly the safari was
excellent. Both Robert and Gavin
were fantastic hosts and were terrific to talk to. For me,
the fact that they were both so knowledgeable as well as
their naturally affable personalities made the trip really
special.

Having a qualified ranger
conduct the safari was brilliant and this definitely sets
Safari Rangers apart from the other companies that I
researched. The people always make the difference and with
Gavin you truly have an exceptional employee and safari
ranger.

In short, I'm really glad
that I chose Safari Rangers for our South African safari
experience.

As a side I promised Gavin
that I would email him some photos from the trip. Do you
have an email address he has access to that I could use for
this?

Thanks and I will provide
some more details as soon as I get a chance.

The best way to describe the Safari is that it far exceeded our expectations. We saw all of the Big Five plus two Cheetah hunting. Our Ranger/Guide Gavin was great. He is extremely friendly, witty, obviously very knowledgeable with the wildlife and very experienced in Kruger and Sabie Sands.

The accommodations in Kruger were very nice - just rustic enough to feel like you are on a safari yet comfortable enough to get plenty of rest to fully enjoy the entire experience. Gavin's ability at cooking equals his knowledge of the bush!

The Sabie Sands was incredible. The chalets were absolutely first class. The meals there were also incredible.

But nobody goes on safari for accommodations and meals. The best part of the safari was the animals. The combo Safari allowed us to see large numbers of animals in Kruger. In fact there were very few moments driving in Kruger where we were not able to see some herd of animals. Then, the Sabie Sands private reserve allowed us to focus on tracking specific species since off road tracking is allowed. The experience of being meters away from wild predators with nothing between you and them is simply indescribable.

Also, we noticed that the vehicles from other lodges were full of people while the lodge used by Safari Rangers were never more than half full allowing us to basically have our own private safari (for two drives there was only Anita and I with the tracker and guide).

I have recommended Safari Rangers to everyone I have spoken to since I returned. Further, a close friend of our family is in the travel agency business and I plan to highly recommend you guys to her.

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour of being listed with Lonely Planet - you absolutely deserve it. If anyone from Lonely Planet has any question about it, they can feel free to contact me for a reference.

Having just returned from our absolutely brilliant safari trip, we thought we would drop you a line to let you know how grateful we were for everything, but especially, to have Gavin as our guide.

From the moment he picked us up, it was evident that we were in for a treat. Gavin's level of expertise and rooted knowledge of the flora, fauna, animals and languages far exceeded our expectations.

By the way, not only did we "see" the Big Five, but we were also led to momentous sightings of these and many other striking animals. At one point, Gavin excitedly tracked a very tall male giraffe from one side of the dirt road to the other...back and forth, back and forth, the only vehicle on the road. We came around the final bend to be greeted by this royal tower of legs and neck, standing right in the middle of the road, looking down on us. What a delight!!

By nightfall of each evening of the safari we found ourselves exhausted. The days were filled with adrenalin rushes caused by the animal sightings, the stimulating discussions and informative dialogues created by the
itinerary and our guide. To top it off, the meals provided by Gavin were superb. His attention to detail was outstanding and created a true sense of luxury.

A warm thanks goes out to all at Safari Rangers for this incredible five day adventure. It was undoubtedly a trip we'll never forget and we would highly recommend Safari Rangers to anyone desiring the best of the best.

With sincere thanks, Jeanne and Sue

PS - Of course you may use any of this letter for Lonely Planet - Good luck with that - you certainly deserve to be listed in their guide book!

Willem, our ranger, was very friendly and informative - we hadn't expected to be educated as well as entertained!

South Africa is as you say an amazing country and we
definitely hope to go back. Kruger was immense and breathtaking, the elephant sightings in particular were fabulous and the sheer beauty of the landscape was just incredible.

Willem's passion for this area was clear and we were really touched by his endeavours to show us all that he could in just two days. He fed us well too, his breakfasts in particular were wonderful.

We nearly saw three of the Big Five whilst in Kruger (Elephant, Rhino and a sleeping lion's paw and tail!). We were also lucky to see hippos, courting giraffes, zebras, dozens of antelope and a wide variety of birds and plant life. Willem's understanding of animal interaction and behaviours was fascinating.

The Sabi Sands showed us a very different type of safari. Here we did see all of the Big Five but it was slightly more fabricated in terms of the radio contact and the ability to follow the animals
off-road, that said we're not complaining because the sightings were great!

The lodge was very luxurious which was nice after all the early mornings and we felt the drinks bill was very reasonable too, considering what we'd paid elsewhere.

Ernest's drive back through the Drakensburg Mountains, the Blyde River Canyon and Pilgrim's Rest was long and very hot but showed us yet another side of South Africa's astonishing size and beauty which just can't be appreciated by flying.

I'm struggling to fully explain how great the safari was, it seems to bring up emotions you don't expect and I can't really find the right words but to put it simply you guys do a great job.

Easily the best holiday either of us have ever had.

Good luck with the Lonely Planet application, you
definitely deserve it, and we're planning to post a CD of photos over as soon as possible.

Thank you so much to all of you for a really magical experience, you'll be hearing from us again!

Sorry we have not been in touch previously- we have just moved and only just got the internet up and running.

Any way we are now back from our wonderful honey moon, we had such an amazing time with safari rangers! We just wanted to say thank you so much for organising our safari. It was everything we had hoped for and more.

Firstly, we must say a huge thank you to our guide, Robert. From day 1 he was outstanding - so professional,
knowledgeable and passionate not only about wildlife but also about South Africa. When people have passions like that it is infectious! He had the ability to pass on general knowledge whilst also making it a very personal tour. We were so well looked after-
accommodation and food was amazing!

The first two days in Kruger were awesome! We saw a huge variety of animals including a herds of elephants (which was something that we had really hoped to see) A highlight of this being a baby elephant with her mother.

In Sabi sands were we able to get close up to a range of animals including the big cats! We saw everything we could have wanted to including: 2
cheetahs stalking wildebeest, buffalo, male lions, female lions with cubs, rhino, big tusker elephants,
hyena, leopard ... the big five plus so much more.

It was a once in a lifetime experience as we sat one evening right next to male lions as they roared - it made the hair on our necks stand up and hearts miss a beat! What an experience, you couldn't want any more!

Apart from the animals we also met some of the friendliest people during our stay in SA.

The 5 day combo was the perfect tour as far as we were concerned the dramaticness of the Kruger followed by the closeness of the Sabi Sands. Amazing!!!

Thanks again and of course we are more than happy for any of our comments to be forwarded,
I really hope you get into the lonely planet, as a person who has travelled extensively using the lonely planet guides
I can definitely say that the company deserves to be in the 'travellers bible'.

Please feel free to use any quotes or photos for the web-site. We will also be happy to be personal recommendations for the company should this be needed.

No one word could describe the time we had on our safari, it was just fantastic from start to finish.

We never expected to have such a personal one to one service. Willem our ranger was just great. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the wildlife, flora and fauna was amazing and nothing was to much trouble.

We were so lucky to see the "big five" as we were still missing the leopard right up until our last game drive. They pulled out all the stops though and the rangers found two magnificent leopards which was just the icing on the cake of a great safari.

We saw so many animals (including 5 rhino together which we understand is extremely rare) and fantastic birds and have some fantastic memories that we will recommend safari rangers to everyone.

Sorry not to have replied
to your mail before this - I have had problems with e-mails,
thought it was the server but last night it was found to be
with Norton, so now I have to sort that out! However, it
is good to be able to mail once again.

You will already have heard
from Eileen and Angela that the trip was an incredible
experience. My grandchildren now want me to take them on
safari and I think it would certainly be marvellous to do
that. First hand experience of seeing glorious animals in
their own space, doing their own thing, would bring greater
awareness and be an education in itself.

Eileen's pictures are
probably the best - better camera! - and I know she will be
sending you some.

The car journeys were long
- flying a better option for some, especially those with
children - but some great scenery, and the early starts
were a rude awakening (literally) but we got used to them
and I'm still getting up much earlier in the morning
.....South African Rand travellers cheques proved to be a
disaster and NOT to be recommended - my mistake. Eileen also
provided a few 'moments', like falling flat on her back,
then losing her flight tickets and debit card! All part of
the holiday.

BUT I wouldn't have
missed the experience for the world and thank you
very much for changing things so that I could be included.
Kuname River Lodge is to be recommended to all - luxury in
the bush, wonderful food, lovely people and a location that
sits you in a natural setting and makes you feel part of
another world - bliss. Carmen, Sean, the lovely Peter, a
chef to die for and all the staff made this a very memorable
holiday. Willem was a pleasure to be with and he,
too, obviously enjoyed the Kuname experience.

(When I go back, I expect
Sean to find the elusive male lion and the leopard that led
us a merry dance, preferably not in the old jeep that gave
us extra thrills and which blew the side out of the
battery!! Sean's vehicle was off the road!).

Gone on long enough -but
again many thanks. It was good of the others to agree to
Kuname instead of Sabi Sands but they certainly got a
bargain about which they couldn't possibly complain.

I think I speak for both of us when I say that we have the most truly amazing experience from start to finish!

Willem was absolutely brilliant. He really knew his stuff and was so passionate about it really made a huge difference. Kruger although the accommodation was not Sabi Sands it was amazing because 90% of our sightings were just the 3 of us, including a male leopard snagging an impala....Awesome.

Willem also knew so much about the trees and wildlife that although not the big 5 were equally as interesting and beautiful. He could not have tried harder to get us as many sightings as possible and the best available. We were seriously spoiled for elephants which as you know was of particular interest to us. He was also a pretty good chef!

Sabi Sands was again fabulous! The sightings were brilliant although we had one slow morning. Peter our guide seriously worked to get us the big 5 in 2 1/2 days. We were 3 short on the final morning missing Leopard (although we had already seen one in Kruger), Buffalo and Rhino. 1st thing we came across a pair of cheetah which we did not expect and that set of the morning, followed by various endangered birds (one of which Peter had never seen at Sabi Sands), Cheetah with cub and kill in tree, then we heard of a Rhino on the other side of the reserve, suddenly we were on an extreme safari Peter was determined to make it before it moved off, on route though we stopped for a couple of buffalo but still made it due to some serious driving by Peter. He was awesome! The rest of the guys at the lodge were brilliant to, so attentive and lovely.

The accommodation blew our minds. So romantic and beautiful. At one stage the plain outside the lodge was littered with more animals than we'd seen together all safari. We hopefully will have some really good photos that we'll be sending you as we would love Willem to see some of them.

Of course you can use any comments for the lonely planet, it was truly the most amazing experience and everyone was so professional it went slow smoothly. I can not tell you how gutted I am to be back!

To cut a long story short we all found the whole experience absolutely stunning.Your Ranger, Robert, was so attentive and knowledgeable. I am a very keen ornithologist in the UK as was Robert out in SA. This was merely a wonderfully unexpected added bonus for me. Even my family were fascinated by birds like vultures, hornbills, sunbirds, etc.

On the way back to Mpumalanga airport, Robert even stopped off at the Brede River Canyon and the Lisbon Falls - superb !

The choice of venues was perfect - we were particularly thrilled by Edeni Private Game Reserve and the Bush Lodge there - a completely different experience for us (my daughter asked if we could come back at Christmas!!). I wouldn't want to stay in the luxury of the River Lodge there as the experience was so much better in the Bush.

We didn't see the Big Five as we missed out on Leopard. We also missed out on Hyena and Jackal, BUT, this made no difference to us whatsoever, for two reasons:
I). we could see just how hard the Ranger(s) and Tracker were working to actually find us a Leopard and ii). it just gave us things to further look forward to on our return (whenever that may be).

To summarise, I would not hesitate to recommend first and foremost SA as a holiday destination (for at least a month), but also your esteemed company and the wonderful service you provided us. You may rest assured, upon our return, we will indeed be in contact.

We had a wonderful safari experience! Even though we did not end up seeing all the "big 5" (no lions,
rhinoceros, or cheetahs), we saw many other animals to include mama leopard and cub and leopards mating. My
favourite animal was actually the giraffes, of which we saw many. We also saw many elephants, at least five kinds of antelopes, hyenas, a jackal, zebras, buffalos, wildebeests, three kinds of mongooses (mongeese?), a
civet, two genets, monkeys, baboons, warthogs, an ostrich, and many other birds in our 4-night stay. We went to sleep with hippos "serenading." while in the public Kruger.

We were happy that we split our time between public and private Kruger as the experiences were different, but in some ways we enjoyed our time with our Safari Ranger Fossie the best. It was an extremely relaxing vacation to have Fossie in charge of everything. As we were the only two with Fossie during our days in the public part of Kruger, it meant that we could ask questions at any time, ask to stop for photographs as desired, and watch the animals for just the right amount of time. We did not have to worry about how to get from one place to the next or where to eat. Fossie knew great places to eat or fixed our meal, and he is a good cook, depending on the time of day.

The return drive from Kruger to our hotel via the "Panoramic Route" was also a delight. On both the drive to and from Kruger, Fossie was careful to break up the drive with appropriate stopping places.

We enjoyed being in South Africa in the winter. Bugs were not an issue and some of the animals were likely easier to spot.

I have told everyone I have talked with how relaxing and how exciting our safari experience was.

Jill and I just wanted to write you a quick e-mail to tell you what a fantastic time we had on our safari in the Kruger Park and the Sabi Sands last week!

We also wanted to tell you that William did a phenomenal job and we truly enjoyed our time!

I have been travelling around the world for a year and a half and I want you to know that William is one of the best tour guides I have ever had. And believe me, I have seen a lot of them. His knowledge of the plants and animals in the area was outstanding and his passion for it was truly infectious.

Thank you for making the beginning of our trip to South Africa so great!!

The combo Safari was though the
highlight of the trip. Robert our guide was wonderful...very
helpful , knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He is a
real credit to your organisation. I will send one
or two pictures to you later when I have them downloaded!
We only saw 4 of the big 5...no Rhino's!

But the sight of a leopard eating
its kill and taking it up a tree to keep safe was
lovely. Also being in the middle of a heard of around
200 buffalo's was also memorable. We saw white tailed
mongoose, porcupine, a few snakes a Genet and lots
more of the more difficult to see animals.

The elephants were wonderful.

After Sabi we flew down to Cape
Town and spent time there and on the Wine Trail and
Garden Route.....I will write again when I have sorted
my in box out and will forward a picture or two.

Thanks for all you help.....it was really a wonderful
experience and Sabi Sands was
a great park to stay in.

Apologies
for the lateness of our reply but we continued our
holiday to New Zealand, Australia and Thailand and
only returned home yesterday.

Our Combo Tour of the Kruger
and Sabi-Sabi was an unforgettable experience and
we were delighted and impressed by your Company's
expertiseand forethought
in tailoring a trip which fulfilled all our expectations.

Yes
-we did see "the Big 5" but Robert's enthusiastic
and erudite commentariesmade
even the most pedestrian of encounters interesting
and informative. We enjoyed his company - and his
cooking too !!

We wish
you success in your quest for recognition of your
excellent organisation by inclusion in "Lonely
Planet".We would
unhesitatingly recommendyou
to any friend or member of our family and would
be most happy to be used as a "Satisfied Customer"
reference should you have any need to reassure
potential clients in the UK.

Sorry to not have
responded early but I was busy back at work already.

We returned to
the States on 31 Dec (since we left for Cape Town after
the safari). South Africa is indeed very beautiful;
people very friendly; and food very good. We thoroughly
enjoyed the safari and our guide Robert is AWESOME. He was the perfect host to God's animal kingdom for our
family and he took very good care of us.

The
3-day combo was indeed a good way to experience both Kruger
NP and Sabi Sands. We probably wish we could stay
for another day at Sabi Sands but budget-wise it's a bit
much.

We will definitely
recommend to our friends if and when someone visits South
Africa. It is a very long trip (22-hour flight each
way for us) from here in California though, not to mention
the cost.

Best wishes in
2005 and being included in the Lonely Planet Guide. You guys deserve it.

Please
also forward this to Leonard in your South Africa office
for me.

As anticipated,
my article on my time on safari in December has just been
published in Vivid Light Photography Magazine on line (see
www.vividlight.com for the homepage that includes an image I took of marabou
storks in a tree just before sundown, for which I thank Gowie
for the positioning of the vehicle). The article itself
is at http://www.vividlight.com/articles/4012.htm

The 30 hour trip
from Johannesburg to Washington, D.C. is a long one. I
would agree with you that South Africa is an amazing
country. Unfortunately all we seem to hear in this
part of the world is all the negative news, especially as
it relates to oppression, Soweto unrest and of course HIV/AIDS.
They of course have their problems like any country but
there is so much more to S. Africa then what we hear in
the news. I found S. Africa to be a delightful country........the
people (whether white, black or collared) were so friendly
and eager to meet people from another land. The country
is beautiful and the topography is amazing given the
small size of the country (compared to the U.S. of course!).

I am so glad I
went, in spite of the long, long plane ride, and that both
my self and husband saw so much of the country. We thoroughly
enjoyed our safari package booked through Safari Rangers.
Our tour guide was Robert Wienand, who is very passionate
about the wild life in South Africa, to include birds.
We enjoyed learning from him and saw many things we would
never have seen or had a clue at what we were looking at.

Our combo trip took us from Johannesburg to the Sabi Sands
Game Reserve for 2 nights. We really liked that experience
as it met our expectations of "going on a safari"
which means driving in an open jeep looking for wild life
in the bush with a native tracker. We saw many,
many animals (except lions - they seemed to be on holiday!)
and saw some fantastic bird life. The Lodge is excellent
and the staff is wonderful.

We loved the layout of the lodge, with each couple having
their own cottage, to the main lodge over looking the watering
hole where we saw elephant, zebra, wildebeest and baboons
in the afternoon while in the pool and to the boma every
evening for a braai. From Sabi Sands
we went to Kruger National Park where we spent a
night at the Pretorius Lodge. This was extremely different
then our experience in Sabi Sands.

I can equate our experience in Kruger with driving through
some of the national parks in the U.S., like Yellowstone
National Park. In the Park we were looking for game
from inside a van, which has limited visibility, and certainly
does not feel like "going on safari". Unless
the animals were crossing the road or standing along side
- they were not able to be seen. The vehicle can not
leave the designated roads in the park.

We saw mostly birds in Kruger and warthogs - still no lions!
(It became a joke through our entire trip - no lions to
be found as all seemed to be on holiday! My husband
finally took me to a Lion and Rhino Park outside of Johannesburg
so I could say I saw lions in S. Africa!) Also the
lodging in Pretorius was very basic and having dinner &
breakfast prepared by our guide, outside our rondele was
different. I am glad we went on your combo tour
just to see the difference, but as a travel agent I would
screen my clients very carefully and recommend if looking
for a safari adventure a private reserve is the way to go.
As to the rest of our stay in S. Africa - it was fantastic.

After starting with our fantastic trip with Safari
Rangers, we then proceeded by renting a camper and
touring a very large area of the country. We drove
from Johannesburg and visited Kimberley (saw the Big Hole),
Oudtshoorn (saw many ostrich farms), the pass into
George, Hermanus (saw 6-8 whales "frolicking"
in the bay), Mossel Bay (gorgeous area), Plettenberg Bay,
Port Elizabeth, Addo National Elephant Park (a fantastic
park and almost better then Kruger but not as good as Sabi
Sands), and Bloemfontein. The camping parks were wonderful
- exceptionally clean and well laid out! In
some instances, being early in the season, we were the only
people in the camping parks!

They are far better then in the U.S. So all in all we had
a fantastic time.........and I hope to go back soon.
My husband goes twice year for a month at a time,
so I am hoping maybe in another year I can return and repeat
our outstanding safari adventures.

I do hope you get into Lonely Planet! If there is
anything I can do to assist you, please let me know. A BIG
thank you to you for all your help in setting up our safari
adventure. You were great and so was our tour guide!

Many thanks for your e-mail and your congratulations. We only
arrived back on the 29th having continued our honeymoon touring
other parts of SA after the Safari. Our Safari experience went
exceptionally well. The combination of two days within Kruger,
two days at Sabi Sands and two days walking in Timbavati gave
us a good taste of all aspects. A large part of the success of
the safari must be attributed to the rangers who accompanied us
- Quentin in Timbavati, Shaun in Sabi Sands and especially Robert
who accompanied us throughout the trip and proved to be a perfect
guide.

Although I think we were probably very
lucky with the very wide range of game we did manage to see, I
have no doubt that there was a great deal of skill also involved
in getting us into the right place at the right time, spotting
some of the more well camouflaged animals and identifying just
what we were looking at - particularly the birds, where Robert's
knowledge was invaluable.

If I could have changed anything I would have opted for an extra
night at Sabi Sands - it was so relaxing, comfortable and friendly
- and on a similar note perhaps our original format having the
luxury of Sabi Sands at the end might have proved a slightly better
arrangement - although that's probably just nitpicking. As regards
the walking section, whilst this proved to be the least productive
in terms of game viewing - which is to be expected with seven
inexperienced people marching through the bush - it was great
to be able to get out and get some feel of what it is like to
actually travel through the bush on foot. I would have preferred
more walking and less game driving, however I accept that the
other people in the group at that point hadn't done any game drives,
and I also believe that on one occasion Quentin deemed it unwise
to attempt a walk due to the agitation of the elephants in the
part of the reserve he had taken us to.

I have hundreds of photographs - some
of which I am very pleased with - but have not as yet had time
to download them onto the computer. I will forward a selection
of what I consider the best images as soon as I get the opportunity.
I offer you my sincere thanks for putting together such a successful
package, for your prompt help and assistance at the planning stage
- in particular Jutta's contribution (and patience) in helping
to arrange the transport and car hire - and again to Robert who
couldn't have been more attentive, more accommodating or more
helpful. It was a pleasure to be in his company.

Kind regards

Paul

P.S. do you arrange trips to any other countries than SA? Botswana
and Tanzania are both still on my list.

A quick mail now that we have returned to base . Thanks again
for the wonderful safari. We really enjoyed the whole experience-hopefully
the first of many!!

The rest of the holiday went really well-we followed a lot of
Robert's suggestions and were not disappointed! It is such a
fantastic country-each day brought something new. The weather
was really good also-Table mountain was set against a blue cloudless
sky when we arrived in Cape Town.

Thanks again for everything-we
were really impressed with the level of organisation, professionalism
and friendliness. Keep up the good work and lots of luck in
the future. We will definitely be forwarding your name to friends
who plan to visit. Pass on our thanks and regards to Breton
also.